Obama may be our last defense against right-wing militarism

Published
8:00 pm EDT, Tuesday, October 7, 2008

To the Editor:

The article by Kevin Ferris that consisted mainly of quotes from Gov. Pawlenty singing McCain's praises wasn't much of a column. Nor was it convincing. Pawlenty brought up the joint appearance at the faith forum in California. I watched that. Obama gave thoughtful, honest answers. McCain spoke in cliches.

I also watched both conventions. The Democrats went a long way toward reuniting their party and made the case for change. The GOP also went a long way to party unity and made a case for change. But they're the ones who have been is power the last eight years, and 28 of the last 40. To win, McCain has be both for and against his own party. That's quite an acrobatic act. He's banking heavily on the "maverick" label conferred on him by a doting Washington press corps, but the fact is he voted with Bush an average of 89 percent of the time and will be drawing on the same meager talent pool to fill his administration. His choice of Palin, a strident right-winger, shows that the "reform" he talks about will be to take America even farther to the right.

To me, the most revealing moment of McCain's speech came when an antiwar protester spoke up and was drowned out by chants of "USA!" America under McCain, as I see it, will be even more militaristic than we already are, with all the money going to war, nothing left to address domestic needs, less tolerance for dissent, more arresting of people for what they might do instead of what they've done, and so on.

Obama, in contrast to McCain, is smart and even-tempered and frankly may be our last hope of reviving - and keeping - our democracy.

Today's Top Insider StoriesOur journalists provide in-depth analysis and reporting about the people, places and issues that matter most to you. Subscribers get access to all of their comprehensive coverage.Stories from Insider